dashan’s BodyBlog

For months I have been punishing myself with ‘healthy’ food. Bland chicken breasts and oats. I hate oats. Oats isn’t food. It’s glorified cardboard. Sure, I lost some weight. Actually quite a bit of weight. But enough is enough! I love good food. Life is too short for oats. So, I’m trying a new experiment. I want to see if I can lose at least 4-5kg of bodyfat in the next month eating delicious food.

So, here is what I did for lunch:

Fried Mackerel:
Clean and butterfly the fish. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Put a little olive oil in non-stich pan and fry the fish, skinside down. It helps if you spoon some of the hot oil over the fish while frying. Add a teaspoon of butter when its almost done. Remove from the pan and drain the excess oil from the fish using a kitchen towel. Simple yet delicious.

Bell pepper soup:

Fry 1/2 an onion, 2 sprigs thyme and 1 clove crushed garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil over a low heat till the onions turn transluscent. Season lightly. Add 4 red or yellow bell peppers, seeded and chopped. Cover with chicken stock and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, untill the peppers are soft. Let it cool down a bit and put it in a food processor. Taste and adjust seasoning. If the soup is too thick, add some water. Re-heat if you want. This is enough for about 8 portions, so I freeze the rest.

Simple herb salad with olives and cherry tomatoes.

I’m lucky that I live near a farmer’s market, so everything is fresh and in season.

I have been working out and taking good care of my diet for two months now. Yet, I do feel a bit discouraged by my results. Everything seems to be shrinking except my stomach. I am definately able to lift much bigger weights than I was at the beginning of this cycle, so at least I am getting stronger. And yet, my arm are getting smaller, as is my chest. OK, OK. I realise that the reduction in size is probably due to fat loss, but still. I have read somewhere that the stomach is the last to go, so I’ll just take my comfort in that. My current day, as far as fitness is concerned, looks like this:

7:00 Breakfast, usually consisting of three boiled eggs and a small bowl of fruit.

9:00 Protein shake

9:30 Weights (Mo.chest, Tu. legs, We. arms, Th. shoulders, Fr. Back)

10:15 Protein shake

12:30 Lunch, usually chicken or fish and two portionf of fruit and vegetables

14:00 Cycle to work (about 12km.)

16:00 Dinner, chicken/fish and a portion os fruit and nuts

21:00 Cycle home

22:00 protein shake

Well, it took me many years of neglect to become overweight, so I willl just have to stick with it and not get discouraged.

On the up side, my muscles are definitely getting firmer, and I’m starting to look better(as long as I keep my shirt on). One of the guys at work did ask me the other day if I work out, because I have a "nice figure" in his opinion. It’s the first time in many years someone has said that to me, so I did feel kind of swell for the rest of the day. Mind you, I heard one of the ladies say to her friend that I look a bit like a gorilla. That didn’t exactly boost my fragile ego. But I digress.

So, my plan is to continue doing what I’m doing for another month, and then check if the results are up to my expectations.